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There are many ways to stream Netflix, YouTube, MLB.TV and other Internet video to your TV. But if your digital life is tied up with Apple's (ticker: AAPL) tightly integrated ecosystem, the $99 Apple TV device will delight you, offering many of the same features as TiVo, Roku and Xbox, plus some very slick Apple-only tricks.

Apple TV's centerpiece is the iTunes Store, which has been adding 1080p, or upgraded high-definition, movies and TV shows since the latest version of the hockey-puck-size Apple TV device came out in March. Steven Soderbergh's new film, Haywire, for instance, is available from Netflix only as a DVD, while iTunes offers an HD one-day rental download for $4.99 ($3.99 for standard definition). The purchase prices would be $19.99 and $14.99, respectively.

Apple TV

And because iTunes purchases remain in the cloud forever, your Apple TV may already have access to every film or TV show you've ever bought. Combine that with the $25-per-year iTunes Match service, and your entire digital music library—up to 25,000 songs—is available as well, whether it was purchased through iTunes or not.

Apple TV's other big trick is AirPlay, a technology that lets you stream audio, video and photos to or from any device in your house running iTunes—and to "mirror" the screen of your iPhone or iPad, including your latest snapshots, to your TV.

For gamers, there's another advantage. Many iOS games, including Real Racing 2 and FIFA 12, incorporate AirPlay so that you can shift the action to your TV screen. And a new version of Mac OS, now in tests, allows Apple TV to wirelessly mirror your Mac, including video calls to the living room.